Animal Detective-Chapter 87: Tailing

Shen Xin was driving his old Camry.

The branch had police cars, but not enough to go around. Shen Xin didn’t feel right about competing with the veterans on the team for a car, so he just drove his own.

Anyway, the branch would reimburse him for gas, so it didn’t matter.

In the car, Ding Yuwei and Tingting were sitting in the back, laughing and talking as they played a patty-cake game.

It was a pretty heartwarming scene.

Shen Xin was waiting at a red light when he got a call.

He glanced at the number, answered, and said, "Brother Xu."

"So, you’re saying the taxi driver was too busy listening to his storytelling program to really notice the passenger? Just that he was male, and got out at Fengshun Li on Xingyue Road."

Shen Xin frowned slightly.

They were talking about the taxi from last night.

On his way home from the zoo yesterday, Shen Xin had replayed the moment in his mind and couldn’t shake the feeling that the taxi’s behavior was off.

At that hour, any tourist would have known the zoo was already closed for the day.

And if he wasn’t a tourist, he should have just gotten out of the car normally.

But that taxi had slowed down, then immediately sped away, as if it were observing something.

That’s why Shen Xin had asked a friend in the Tingyang District traffic police brigade to look into that taxi.

"Were there any cameras that caught the passenger when he got out on Xingyue Road?" Shen Xin asked.

Unfortunately, there weren’t.

Xingyue Road was a small side street with a camera only at its entrance.

"Brother Xu, do you have the driver’s number? I want to ask him a few things myself." Shen Xin thanked him again before hanging up.

Ding Yuwei, on alert, asked what taxi he was talking about.

"I’m not sure yet."

Shen Xin didn’t elaborate. A moment later, Brother Xu sent the number over.

Shen Xin pulled the car over to the side of the road and dialed.

The driver on the other end sounded like he was on the road, but his tone became noticeably tense after hearing Shen Xin was a police officer.

Shen Xin asked him to pull over when it was convenient so he could ask a few questions.

Once the driver had pulled over, Shen Xin asked if he really couldn’t remember what the passenger looked like.

"I really didn’t pay attention."

The driver said he liked to listen to storytelling programs while driving and basically never paid his passengers any mind.

Even if he caught a quick glimpse, he didn’t have any real impression.

And when the passenger got out at Fengshun Li, he hadn’t noticed if the man actually went into Fengshun Li.

"So, what you’re saying is, he got in the car on Diligent Study Road, and after getting in, he didn’t give you a clear destination, but just directed you to drive straight ahead."

’Diligent Study Road... that’s the street right in front of the Tingyang Branch.’

"Then, when you reached the zoo, he told you to slow down. You decelerated, and then he told you to keep going, and finally just told you to head to Fengshun Li."

The driver grunted in affirmation, saying that was exactly what happened.

"Did you stop on Yinglong Road?" Shen Xin asked.

After getting off work and leaving the branch, he’d stopped on Yinglong Road to buy some nuts.

The driver was taken aback. "How did you know we stopped there for a bit?" he asked, surprised.

’That settles it. The guy was tailing me.’

Shen Xin asked again, "Sir, please, try to think hard for me. What exactly did the man look like? Did he have a square face, with noticeable stubble? And his voice, was it a bit muffled?"

"Oh, right. I remember some places have started installing in-car cameras in taxis. Does your car have one?"

The driver shook his head. "They said the cameras are being installed next year, so who knows. But now that you mention it, a square face and a muffled voice... you know, I think that’s right. It was a pretty average face. I only glanced at him a few times, didn’t get a good look."

In the back seat, Ding Yuwei instantly sat up straight.

She knew who Shen Xin was talking about.

"Okay, thank you for your trouble, sir. We’ll be in touch if anything else comes up." Shen Xin hung up.

Ding Yuwei couldn’t wait to ask what was going on.

Shen Xin himself was still puzzled. He murmured, "This Guo Chunping... something’s not right with him."

After confirming that the man had been tailing him, Shen Xin’s thoughts quickly turned to one person.

Guo Chunping.

First of all, Shen Xin didn’t think he had any enemies who would go out of their way to follow him.

As for the people he had interacted with yesterday...

It definitely wasn’t Qin Chuanwang.

Director Hong was probably not involved either.

That only left Guo Chunping, the very person he had just questioned about Liu Laibin’s case.

Ding Yuwei asked, "So you’re saying Guo Chunping was following you yesterday? What would be his motive? Could he be connected to the case we’re investigating?"

With Tingting present, she didn’t mention Liu Laibin’s name.

"Let’s assume he really is connected to the case. From his perspective, the case is four years old and the investigation has long been closed. Then the two of us suddenly show up and say the case has been reopened. He would definitely be curious if some new evidence has emerged that prompted us to reopen the investigation."

"So that’s why he decided to follow you."

Shen Xin nodded. That’s what he was thinking, too.

After a moment of thought, Shen Xin said, "Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We’ll go to the zoo first. Brother Xing should be up by now. I’ll call him in a bit and have him check out Fengshun Li and put a tail on Guo Chunping."

Shen Xin remembered that Guo Chunping’s registered address wasn’t in Fengshun Li.

’As for me, since I’ve already brought Tingting out, I should take her to see Broo first before doing anything else.’

Still, this unexpected discovery was invigorating for Shen Xin.

If Guo Chunping was also involved, then the nature of the case was completely different.

’An inside job?’

’Was he bought off, or was he an accomplice?’

Shen Xin considered it and leaned toward the former.

If he were an accomplice, he should have left Nanjiang with Sun Kai. It would be impossible for him to have stayed behind after the crime, let alone continue working as the security manager until now.

’He was probably just bought off to help deal with the surveillance system or something.’

If that was the case, it would explain the conveniently upgraded surveillance system and the old server that was disposed of immediately.

As for his extreme reaction now—choosing to tail him right after he came to investigate and ask questions... Shen Xin speculated that perhaps Guo Chunping initially didn’t know what Sun Kai was planning to do. He might have just provided some assistance, only to find out later that Sun Kai had actually committed murder, at which point he realized how serious the situation had become.

Or, perhaps Sun Kai had threatened him, which would explain his strong reaction upon hearing the case was being reopened.

’In that case, he might also be a flight risk.’

At that thought, Shen Xin decided not to wait any longer and immediately called Zhao Tianxing.

He asked him to arrange for someone to keep an eye on Guo Chunping.

By the time he finished the call, they had arrived at the zoo.

He took one last glance at the traffic behind him in the rearview mirror. Seeing nothing unusual, Shen Xin turned into the zoo’s parking lot.

It happened to be the weekend, so the zoo was crowded with visitors.

He contacted Director Hong, who appeared shortly after and led the three of them toward the aviary.

"Officer Shen, Xiaoli told me everything about yesterday. I really have to thank you! If Pipi and Huahua actually succeed in breeding, it’ll be a first for the entire Ningjiang Province."

Director Hong was quite excited.

Ding Yuwei sized up Shen Xin, curious about what this "breeding" was all about.

Shen Xin didn’t explain.

’What could I even say? It was just a lucky coincidence.’

They arrived at the aviary.

Following Shen Xin’s advice, Li Xiaobing hadn’t put Broo and Huahua in the public exhibition area.

"Officer Shen, are you saying Pipi was raised by this little girl?" Li Xiaobing asked, looking at Tingting in astonishment.

He wasn’t clear on Broo’s origins.

Shen Xin nodded and led Tingting to Broo’s cage.

Although he was in his own cage behind a glass panel, as soon as they entered, Broo was already shouting "Dumbass! Dumbass!" through the glass at the visitors outside.

As soon as she heard that, Tingting’s face lit up with joyful surprise. "Uncle, that’s Broo! That’s my Broo!"

With that, she excitedly called out, "Broo!"

Broo reacted instantly, turning his head to look at Tingting with a puzzled expression.

Four years had passed, and Tingting had grown up a lot.

But the next moment, Broo became excited. He hopped back and forth on his perch, calling out, "Tingting! Good Tingting!"

Tingting held out her arm.

Before Li Xiaobing could stop him, Broo flapped his wings and landed precisely on Tingting’s arm.

He kept calling "Tingting! Tingting!" and nuzzled his head against her cheek.

Tingting giggled with delight.

A few children on the other side of the glass stared wide-eyed, pointing at Tingting and asking if they could come in too.

Tingting hugged Broo to her chest, overjoyed.

Li Xiaobing and Director Hong were amazed.

Now, the two of them were convinced that Tingting was Broo’s original owner.

"Tingting."

Shen Xin stepped forward, crouched down, and asked, "Do you know why Broo says a curse word like ’dumbass’?"

Shen Xin had noticed that when Li Xiaobing first opened the door, before Tingting could have gotten a clear look at Broo, she had heard Broo shout "dumbass" and immediately recognized him with delight.

It was as if she already knew Broo would say that.

Tingting tickled Broo under his wing, making the parrot let out a loud cackle. Then she said, "I know. He learned it from my dad. Whenever my dad got mad, he’d call Uncle Li and the others ’dumbasses.’ He’d say really nasty things, and Broo learned it. I told him to stop saying it, but he won’t listen."

Shen Xin was suddenly startled. He exchanged a look with Ding Yuwei, and the expression in both their eyes changed.

’In other words, Broo hadn’t started shouting "dumbass" because he saw Sun Kai, but because he was imitating Liu Laibin.’

’It was Liu Laibin cursing at Li Weiqin and the others.’

’So, when he suddenly started shouting "dumbass" back in ’15, he might not have seen Sun Kai, but one of Liu Laibin’s employees!’